1.
National Register of Historic Places
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The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
2.
Federico Degetau
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Federico Degetau y González was a Puerto Rican politician, lawyer, writer, author, and the first Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States House of Representatives. Degetau was born in 1862 in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, where he attended the common schools. His father was Mathias Degetau, son of a wealthy Hamburg, Germany, in Ponce his father Mathias managed the banks of the Overman and Dede House, of which his father, Otto Georg Christian Degetau, was a partner. Federicos mother was María Consolación González, daughter of a respected San Juan family and he completed an academic course at Barcelona, Spain, and was graduated from the law department of the Central University of Madrid. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Madrid and he founded the newspaper La Isla de Puerto Rico to communicate the plight of Puerto Rico to the colonial power. Degetau returned to Puerto Rico, and was one of the four commissioners sent by Puerto Rico under Luis Muñoz Rivera to petition Spain for autonomy in 1895. The petition was denied but a government was imposed by the U. S. Congress three years later as a result of the Spanish–American War. He settled in San Juan, Puerto Rico and continued to practice law, Degetau was a member of the municipal council of San Juan in 1897, and mayor of San Juan in 1898. He was deputy to the Spanish Cortes Generales of 1898 and he was appointed by General Henrys successor, General George W. Davis, as a member of the Insular Board of Charities. Degetau became a member of the Insular Republican Party, which was founded in 1899 and he was the first vice president of the municipal council of San Juan in 1899 and 1900, and was president of the Board of Education of San Juan in 1900 and 1901. He was elected as a Puerto Rican Republican to the Resident Commissioner post in 1900 and he served from March 4,1901 until March 3,1905, in the Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, and Fifty-eighth Congresses. The American flag can perhaps be lowered in the distant Philippines and it must be maintained in the neighboring Island, with the institutions of liberty and justice that it represents. While serving Congress, Degetau was a member of the Committee on Insular Affairs, and submitted a bill to grant United States citizenship to Puerto Rico residents and he was not a candidate for renomination in 1904, and resumed the practice of law. Chairman, I do not know, my friends, in this patriotic relation anything superior, I do not conceive anything more sacred that the oath to support it. In 1902, the United States Treasury Department issued new guidelines that changed the immigration status of all Puerto Ricans. She lost her appeals in the Board hearings and took her case to the U. S. Supreme Court and his protest was forwarded to the U. S. Treasury Department. Degetau then contacted Le Barbier and Parker, who informed him that they planned to appeal Gonzálezs case to the U. S. Supreme Court. The groundbreaking case, which known as Gonzales v. Williams, was argued in the U. S. Supreme Court on December 4 and 7,1903 and was presided by Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller
3.
Ponce, Puerto Rico
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Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government, Ponce, Puerto Ricos most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the great-grandson of Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce is often referred to as La Perla del Sur, La Ciudad Señorial, the city serves as the governmental seat of the autonomous municipality as well as the regional hub for various Government of Puerto Rico entities, such as the Judiciary of Puerto Rico. It is also the center for various other commonwealth and federal government agencies. The municipality has a total of 31 barrios, including 19 outside the urban area and 12 in the urban area of the city. Ponce is a city of both the Ponce Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Ponce-Yauco-Coamo Combined Statistical Area. The municipality of Ponce is the second largest in Puerto Rico by land area, the region of what is now Ponce belonged to the Taíno Guaynia region, which stretched along the southern coast of Puerto Rico. Agüeybaná, a cacique who led the region, was among those that greeted Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León when he came to the island in 1508. Archeological findings have identified four sites within the municipality of Ponce with archeological significance, Canas, Tibes, Caracoles, during the first years of the colonization, Spanish families started settling around the Jacaguas River, in the south of the island. For security reasons, these moved to the banks of the Rio Portugués. Starting around 1646 the whole area from the Rio Portugués to the Bay of Guayanilla was called Ponce, in 1670, a small chapel was raised in the middle of the small settlement and dedicated in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Among its earliest settlers were Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, on September 17,1692, the King of Spain Carlos II issued a Cédula Real converting the chapel into a parish, and in so doing officially recognizing the small settlement as a hamlet. It is believed that Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, Juan Ponce de Leóns great-grandson, was instrumental in obtaining the permit to formalize the founding of the hamlet. Captains Enrique Salazar and Miguel del Toro where also instrumental, the city is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the great-grandson of Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. In the early 18th century Don Antonio Abad Rodriguez Berrios built a chapel under the name of San Antonio Abad. The area would receive the name of San Antón, a historically important part of modern Ponce. In 1712 the village was chartered as El Poblado de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Ponce, in the early 19th century, Ponce continued to be one of dozens of hamlets that dotted the Island. Its inhabitants survived by subsistence agriculture, cattle raising, and maritime contraband with foreigners, however, in the 1820s, three events took place that dramatically changed the size of the town forever
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
6.
Plaza Las Delicias
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Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains, the historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located within Plaza Las Delicias. Plaza Las Delicias is actually composed of two squares, Plaza Muñoz Rivera on the end and Plaza Degetau on the southern end. The square dates back to the early Spanish settlement in Ponce of 1670 and it is the main tourist attraction of the city, receiving about a quarter of a million visitors per year. According to the traditional Spanish colonial custom, a main square. In the case of Ponce, a Catholic church was built on the center of the plaza, the Plaza Las Delicias square is, thus, actually made up of two plazas. The north section of the square is named Plaza Luis Muñoz Rivera, Plaza Las Delicias measures 8,800 square meters. The history of Plaza Las Delicias dates back to as far as the creation of the first Catholic chapel in Ponce in 1670 and it is also known that around 1840 Mayor Salvador de Vives planted trees as a renovation project for Plaza Las Delicias. It was first lit in 1864, in addition to the Cathedral and the firehouse, Plaza Las Delicias at one point also contained an open dining Moorish-style Arab kiosk that had been part of the 1882 Fair Exposition. The kiosk was still present at the time of the American invasion of the island in 1898 as reported by American photo-journalist William Dinwiddie, Plaza Luis Muñoz Rivera is the smaller of the two plazas. It is so named to honor the prominent poet, journalist, the statue is the product of the foundry of Italian sculptor Luiggi Tomassi. in Pietrasanta, Italy. The Muñoz Rivera statue is made in bronze and was unveiled in 1923, Luis Yordán Dávila, mayor of Ponce at the time, was one of the main proponents of the monument. In addition to the statue of Munoz Rivera, this section of Plaza Las Delicias also has two fountains. Plaza Muñoz Rivera is bounded on the north by Plaza Muñoz Rivera street, on the west by Union street, on the east by Atocha street, and on the south by the Ponce Cathedral and Parque de Bombas. Two hotels, various banks, several boutiques, a five-story drugstore building, Plaza Federico Degetau is the larger of the two plazas. It was designed by architect Francisco Porrata-Doria in 1914 and it is located south of the Cathedral and the firehouse. It was originally called Antigua Plaza Real and this section of Plaza Las Delicias is perhaps the best known and the one most often seen in pictures. In the center of this lies the famous Fuente de los Leones
7.
Ponce Historic Zone
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The Ponce Historic Zone is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico, consisting of buildings and structures with architecture that date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The zone was designated in 1962, and initially included only the center core of the city. On November 17,2005, then-Governor of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, signed Executive Order Number 72, the zone goes by various names, including Ponce Tradicional, Ponce Centro, Ponce Histórico, and Distrito Histórico. The zone is located in what is commonly called Ponce Pueblo – the central downtown, a map of the area covered by the Ponce Historic Zone is available from the government of the municipality of Ponce. Numerous other attractions in this area are listed in the NRHP, such as Banco de Ponce, Casa Paoli. Others, such as Teatro Fox Delicias, Teatro La Perla, Plaza de Mercado, Hotel Meliá, street corners in most of this zone have chamfered corners, typical of Barcelona, Spain. In recent years an intensive $440 million revitalization project called Ponce en Marcha has increased the citys historic area from 260 to 1,046 buildings, the Ponce en Marcha project was conceived in 1985 by then governor Rafael Hernández Colón during his second term in La Fortaleza. A significant number of buildings in Ponce are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the nonprofit Project for Public Places listed the historic downtown Ponce city center as one of the 60 of the Worlds Great Places, for its graciously preserved showcase of Caribbean culture. The Ponce en Marcha project has given even more form to the definition, establishment, the plan is the result of litigation between the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce and the Government of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica must complete Phase III of the burial of aerial cabling within the Zona Histórica, the Puerto Rico Autoridad de los Puertos must expand the runway and taxiway at Mercedita Airport and build the maintenance building. Structures within the zone are classified into four categories, The first consists of structures with a monumental historic value. The second is for those structures that while lacking a monumental historic value, possess some qualities of historic, architectural, the third category includes those structures of contextual value. And finally, category 4 is reserved for those structures that exist within the zone but whose value has not been assessed. The historic zone itself consists of three distinct sub-zones, First Order Zone – This zone is limited to the immediately surrounding Plaza Las Delicias. This is the historic zone, created in 1962. Second Order Zone – This is a zone that was added in 1989 further increasing the perimeter of the area around Plaza Las Delicias. Third Order Zone – This zone was added in 1992, and it covered the communities of Mariani, Belgica, and parts of Clausells and it was also extended, for the first time, east of Rio Portugues, to cover the community of La Alhambra. In August,2003, Mayor Cordero favored a measure to exclude Belgica, Claussells, National Register of Historic Places in Ponce, Puerto Rico
8.
Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and briefly called Porto Rico, is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea. It is an archipelago that includes the island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller ones such as Mona, Culebra. The capital and most populous city is San Juan and its official languages are Spanish and English, though Spanish predominates. The islands population is approximately 3.4 million, Puerto Ricos rich history, tropical climate, diverse natural scenery, renowned traditional cuisine, and attractive tax incentives make it a popular destination for travelers from around the world. Four centuries of Spanish colonial government transformed the ethnic, cultural and physical landscapes primarily with waves of African captives, and Canarian. In the Spanish imperial imagination, Puerto Rico played a secondary, in 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States appropriated Puerto Rico together with most former Spanish colonies under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Puerto Ricans are natural-born citizens of the United States, however, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the United States Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. As a U. S. territory, American citizens residing on the island are disenfranchised at the level and may not vote for president. However, Congress approved a constitution, allowing U. S. citizens on the territory to elect a governor. A fifth referendum will be held in June 2017, with only Statehood, in early 2017, the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis posed serious problems for the government. The outstanding bond debt that had climbed to $70 billion or $12,000 per capita at a time with 12. 4% unemployment, the debt had been increasing during a decade long recession. Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen – a derivation of Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, the terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively, and are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is also known in Spanish as la isla del encanto. Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, eventually traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city. The islands name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898, the anglicized name was used by the US government and private enterprises. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila in 1931, the ancient history of the archipelago known today as Puerto Rico is not well known. The scarce archaeological findings and early Spanish scholarly accounts from the colonial era constitute the basis of knowledge about them. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, the first settlers were the Ortoiroid people, an Archaic Period culture of Amerindian hunters and fishermen who migrated from the South American mainland
9.
Courtyard
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A courtyard or court is an enclosed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Such spaces in inns and public buildings were often the meeting places for some purposes. Both of the court and yard derive from the same root. See yard and garden for the relation of this set of words, courtyards—private open spaces surrounded by walls or buildings—have been in use in residential architecture for almost as long as people have lived in constructed dwellings. The courtyard house makes its first appearance ca, Courtyards have historically been used for many purposes including cooking, sleeping, working, playing, gardening, and even places to keep animals. Before courtyards, open fires were burning in a central place within a home. Over time, these openings were enlarged and eventually led to the development of the centralized open courtyard we know today. Courtyard homes have been designed and built throughout the world many variations. Courtyard homes are prevalent in temperate climates, as an open central court can be an important aid to cooling house in warm weather. However, courtyard houses have been found in harsher climates as well for centuries, the comforts offered by a courtyard—air, light, privacy, security, and tranquility—are properties nearly universally desired in human housing. Ur,2000 BC — two-storey houses constructed around a square were built of fired brick. Kitchen, working, and public spaces were located on the ground floor, the central uncovered area in a Roman domus was referred to as an atrium. Today, we use the term courtyard to refer to such an area. Roman atrium houses were built side by side along the street and they were one-storey homes without windows that took in light from the entrance and from the central atrium. The hearth, which used to inhabit the centre of the home, was relocated, and these homes frequently incorporated a second open-air area, the garden, which would be surrounded by Greek-style colonnades, forming a peristyle. This created a colonnaded walkway around the perimeter of the courtyard, Courtyard houses in the Middle East reflect the nomadic influences of the region. Often the flat rooftops of these structures were used for sleeping in warm weather, in some Islamic cultures, private courtyards provided the only outdoor space for women to relax unobserved. The traditional Chinese courtyard house, e. g. siheyuan, is an arrangement of individual houses around a square
10.
Capital punishment
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Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The sentence that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence, etymologically, the term capital in this context alluded to execution by beheading. Fifty-six countries retain capital punishment,103 countries have abolished it de jure for all crimes, six have abolished it for ordinary crimes. Capital punishment is a matter of controversy in various countries and states. In the European Union, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment, also, the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states, prohibits the use of the death penalty by its members. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, in 2007,2008,2010,2012 and 2014, non-binding resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions. Although most nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the population live in countries where executions take place, such as China, India. Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies—both to punish crime, in most countries that practise capital punishment it is reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, espionage, treason, defection or as part of military justice. In many countries use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty, in militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny. The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history, most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishment for wrongdoing generally included compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning, banishment, usually, compensation and shunning were enough as a form of justice. The response to crime committed by neighbouring tribes or communities included a formal apology, a blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of a system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour, acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished. However, in practice, it is difficult to distinguish between a war of vendetta and one of conquest. Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in a religious context, compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, the person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of the crime because the system was based on tribes, not individuals
11.
U.S. president
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The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be one of the worlds most powerful political figures, the role includes being the commander-in-chief of the worlds most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad, Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The president is empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves. The president is responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is a member. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States, since the office of President was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. However, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having elected to the office. The Twenty-second Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected president for a third term, in all,44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four-year terms. On January 20,2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th, in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives to Congress, only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1,1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies, with peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. Prospects for the convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washingtons attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. It was through the negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U. S. The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto, the Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options, Sign the legislation, the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections, in this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation
12.
Theodore Roosevelt
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Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was an American statesman, author, explorer, soldier, naturalist, and reformer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. As a leader of the Republican Party during this time, he became a force for the Progressive Era in the United States in the early 20th century. Born a sickly child with debilitating asthma, Roosevelt successfully overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle and he integrated his exuberant personality, vast range of interests, and world-famous achievements into a cowboy persona defined by robust masculinity. Home-schooled, he began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard College and his first of many books, The Naval War of 1812, established his reputation as both a learned historian and as a popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the faction of Republicans in New Yorks state legislature. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898, the state party leadership distrusted him, so they took the lead in moving him to the prestigious but powerless role of vice presidential candidate as McKinleys running mate in the election of 1900. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously across the country, helping McKinleys re-election in a victory based on a platform of peace, prosperity. Following the assassination of President McKinley in September 1901, Roosevelt succeeded to the office at age 42, making conservation a top priority, he established a myriad of new national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nations natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America, where he began construction of the Panama Canal and he greatly expanded the United States Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project the United States naval power around the globe. His successful efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, elected in 1904 to a full term, Roosevelt continued to promote progressive policies, but many of his efforts and much of his legislative agenda were eventually blocked in Congress. Roosevelt successfully groomed his close friend, William Howard Taft, to succeed him in the presidency, after leaving office, Roosevelt went on safari in Africa and toured Europe. Returning to the United States, he became frustrated with Tafts approach, failing to win the Republican presidential nomination in 1912, Roosevelt founded his own party, the Progressive, so-called Bull Moose Party, and called for wide-ranging progressive reforms. The split among Republicans enabled the Democrats to win both the White House and a majority in the Congress in 1912, Republicans aligned with Taft nationally would control the Republican Party for decades. Frustrated at home, Roosevelt led an expedition to the Amazon basin. During World War I, he opposed President Woodrow Wilson for keeping the country out of the war, and offered his military services, although planning to run again for president in 1920, Roosevelt suffered deteriorating health and died in early 1919. Roosevelt has consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest American presidents. Historians admire Roosevelt for rooting out corruption in his administration, but are critical of his 1909 libel lawsuits against the World and his face was carved into Mount Rushmore, alongside those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27,1858, at East 20th Street in New York City and he was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart Mittie Bulloch and glass businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr
13.
Herbert Hoover
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Herbert Clark Hoover was an American politician who served as the 31st President of the United States from 1929 to 1933 during the Great Depression. He was defeated in a landslide in 1932 by Democrat Franklin D, a lifelong Quaker, he became a successful mining engineer around the globe and retired in 1912. In the First World War he built a reputation as a humanitarian by leading relief efforts in Belgium during the war. He headed the U. S. Food Administration during World War I and his reputation as a Progressive businessman fighting for efficiency and elimination of waste was built as the Secretary of Commerce 1921-28. Hoover was a leader in the Efficiency Movement, which held that every institution public and they all could be improved by experts who could identify the problems and solve them. He also believed in the importance of volunteerism and of the role of individuals in society, in the presidential election of 1928, Hoover easily won the Republican nomination, despite having no elected-office experience. Although Hoover never raised the issue, some of his supporters did in mobilizing anti-Catholic sentiment against his opponent Al Smith. He reluctantly approved the Smoot–Hawley Tariff of 1930, which sent foreign trade spiralling down and he believed it was essential to balance the budget despite falling tax revenue, so he raised the tax rates. The economy kept falling, and the unemployment rate rose to 25%, with industry, mining. This downward spiral, plus his support for policies that had lost favor, set the stage for Hoovers overwhelming defeat in 1932 by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. Most historians agree that Hoovers defeat in the 1932 election was caused primarily by the downward economic spiral, Hoover became a conservative spokesman for opposition to the domestic and foreign policies of the New Deal. He opposed entry into the Second World War and was not given any role to play, in 1946, President Harry S. Truman liked Hoover and appointed him to survey war-torn Germany which produced a number of reports that changed U. S. occupation policy. In 1947, Truman appointed Hoover to head the Hoover Commission, by the time of his death, he had rehabilitated his image. Nevertheless, Hoover is often ranked by historians as one of the worst U. S. presidents. Herbert Hoover was born on August 10,1874, in West Branch, Iowa, he would become the only President so far born in that state and the first born west of the Mississippi River. His father, Jesse Hoover, was a blacksmith and farm implement store owner, of German, German-Swiss, Jesse Hoover and his father Eli had moved to Iowa from Ohio twenty years previously. Hoovers mother, Hulda Randall Minthorn, was born in Norwich, Ontario, Canada, both of his parents were Quakers. At about age two he contracted the croup and he was so ill that he was momentarily thought to have died, until he was resuscitated by his uncle, John Minthorn
14.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and emerged as a figure in world events during the mid-20th century. He directed the United States government during most of the Great Depression and he is often rated by scholars as one of the three greatest U. S. Presidents, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Roosevelt was born in 1882 to an old, prominent Dutch family from Dutchess County and he attended the elite educational institutions of Groton School, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School. At age 23 in 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, and he entered politics in 1910, serving in the New York State Senate, and then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. In 1920, Roosevelt was presidential candidate James M. Coxs running mate and he was in office from 1929 to 1933 and served as a reform governor, promoting the enactment of programs to combat the depression besetting the United States at the time. In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated incumbent Republican president Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency, Roosevelt took office while in the United States was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history. Energized by his victory over polio, FDR relied on his persistent optimism and activism to renew the national spirit. He created numerous programs to support the unemployed and farmers, and to labor union growth while more closely regulating business. His support for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 added to his popularity, the economy improved rapidly from 1933–37, but then relapsed into a deep recession in 1937–38. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court, when the war began and unemployment ended, conservatives in Congress repealed the two major relief programs, the WPA and CCC. However, they kept most of the regulations on business, along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wagner Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Social Security. His goal was to make America the Arsenal of Democracy, which would supply munitions to the Allies, in March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to Britain and China. He supervised the mobilization of the U. S. economy to support the war effort, as an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented a war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and initiate the development of the worlds first atomic bomb. His work also influenced the creation of the United Nations. Roosevelts physical health declined during the war years, and he died 11 weeks into his fourth term. One of the oldest Dutch families in New York State, the Roosevelts distinguished themselves in other than politics. One ancestor, Isaac Roosevelt, had served with the New York militia during the American Revolution, Roosevelt attended events of the New York society Sons of the American Revolution, and joined the organization while he was president
15.
George H. W. Bush
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George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who was the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and the 43rd Vice President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Republican Party, he was previously a congressman, ambassador, and he is the oldest living former President and Vice President. Prior to his sons presidency, he was referred to as George Bush or President Bush. Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Bush postponed his university studies, enlisted in the U. S. Navy on his 18th birthday and he served until the end of the war, then attended Yale University. Graduating in 1948, he moved his family to West Texas and entered the oil business, Bush became involved in politics soon after founding his own oil company, serving as a member of the House of Representatives and Director of Central Intelligence, among other positions. He failed to win the Republican nomination for President in 1980, but was chosen as a mate by party nominee Ronald Reagan. During his tenure, Bush headed administration task forces on deregulation, in 1988, Bush ran a successful campaign to succeed Reagan as President, defeating Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis. Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency, military operations were conducted in Panama and the Persian Gulf, the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and the Soviet Union dissolved two years later. Domestically, Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise and, after a struggle with Congress and his presidential library was dedicated in 1997, and he has been active—often alongside Bill Clinton—in various humanitarian activities. Besides being the 43rd president, his son George also served as the 46th Governor of Texas and is one of only two other being John Quincy Adams—to be the son of a former president. His second son, Jeb Bush, served as the 43rd Governor of Florida, George Herbert Walker Bush was born at 173 Adams Street in Milton, Massachusetts, on June 12,1924, to Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Bush. The Bush family moved from Milton to Greenwich, Connecticut, shortly after his birth, growing up, his nickname was Poppy. Bush began his education at the Greenwich Country Day School in Greenwich. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Bush decided to join the US, Navy, so after graduating from Phillips Academy in 1942, he became a naval aviator at the age of 18. He was assigned to Torpedo Squadron as the officer in September 1943. The following year, his squadron was based on USS San Jacinto as a member of Air Group 51, during this time, the task force was victorious in one of the largest air battles of World War II, the Battle of the Philippine Sea. After Bushs promotion to Lieutenant on August 1,1944, San Jacinto commenced operations against the Japanese in the Bonin Islands, Bush piloted one of four Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft from VT-51 that attacked the Japanese installations on Chichijima
16.
Isabella II of Spain
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Isabella II was Queen of Spain from 1833 until 1868. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, after a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1868, and formally abdicated in 1870. Her son Alfonso XII became king in 1874, Isabella was born in Madrid in 1830, the eldest daughter of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, and of his fourth wife and niece, Maria Christina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Queen Maria Christina became regent on 29 September 1833, when her three-year-old daughter Isabella was proclaimed sovereign on the death of the king, the first pretender, Ferdinands brother Carlos, fought seven years during the minority of Isabella to dispute her title. Carlos and his descendants supporters were known as Carlists, and the fight over the succession was the subject of a number of Carlist Wars in the 19th century, Isabellas reign was maintained only through the support of the army. After the Carlist war, the regent, Maria Christina, resigned to make way for Baldomero Espartero, Prince of Vergara, Espartero, a Progressive, remained regent for only two years. Baldomero Espartero was turned out in 1843 by a military and political pronunciamiento led by Generals Leopoldo ODonnell and they formed a cabinet, presided over by Joaquín María López y López. This government induced the Cortes to declare Isabella of age at 13, the marriages suited France and Louis Philippe, King of the French, who as a result nearly quarrelled with Britain. However, the marriages were not happy, persistent rumour had it that few if any of Isabellas children were fathered by her king-consort, rumoured to be a homosexual. The Carlist party asserted that the heir-apparent to the throne, who later became Alfonso XII, had fathered by a captain of the guard. Isabella had nine children, but only five reached adulthood, Ferdinand Maria Isabel, Princess of Asturias, Maria Cristina Alfonso XII Maria de la Concepcion Maria del Pilar María de la Paz, who married her cousin Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria. Francisco de Asis Eulalia de Asis de la Piedad, who married her cousin Infante Antonio, the couple was rather caustically described by an English contemporary thus, … The Queen is large in stature, but rather what might be called bulky than stately. There is no dignity either in her face or figure, the countenance is cold and expressionless, with traces of an unchastened, unrefined, and impulsive character, and the indifference it betrays is not redeemed by any regularity or beauty of feature. Moderados and Unión Liberals quickly succeeded each other and kept out the Progressives, Queen Isabella II often interfered in politics. She showed favour to her reactionary generals and statesmen and to the Church, by virtue of a royal decree, she opened Iloilo to world trade on September 29,1855 exporting mainly sugar and also other products to America, Australia and Europe. At the end of September 1868, Isabella went into exile, after her Moderado generals had made a show of resistance that was crushed at the Battle of Alcolea by Generals Serrano. This revolt, which deposed Isabella, is known as the Glorious Revolution, the new government replaced Isabella with Amadeo I, second son of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, after much deliberation. The First Spanish Republic collapsed in December 1874, Isabella had been induced to abdicate in Paris on 25 June 1870, in favour of her son, Alfonso XII, furthering the cause of the Restoration
17.
La Fortaleza
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La Fortaleza is the current official residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico. It was built between 1533 and 1540 to defend the harbor of San Juan, the structure is also known as Palacio de Santa Catalina. It is the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the New World and it was listed by UNESCO in 1983 as part of the World Heritage Site La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site. The construction was authorized by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as a defense against attacks from Island Caribs, initially, the structure consisted of four walls enclosing an interior patio with a circular tower known as the Homage Tower. From the top of the tower, the governor, following tradition, would take oaths of fidelity at critical moments to the King. Later, a tower named the Austral Tower was constructed. At present, the complex consists of a few attached buildings with formal living quarters in the second floor and it overlooks the high city walls that front the bay, and within the north perimeter of the house are sheltered gardens and a swimming pool. Since the 16th century, La Fortaleza has acted as the residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico, on November 27,1822, its traditional status as the executive mansion was made official. The fortress underwent a reconstruction in 1846 to change its military appearance into a palatial facade. King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands are among several heads of state who have stayed in La Fortaleza, in June 2011, U. S. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain also visited La Fortaleza in 2016. La Fortaleza has been captured twice by invaders,1598, George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland,1625, General Boudewijn Hendrick of the Netherlands invaded the city and established himself at La Fortaleza. During the Dutch retreat, the fortress and the city were set ablaze, on October 30,1950, there was an attempt by a few nationalists to enter La Fortaleza in what is known as the San Juan Nationalist revolt, intending to attack then-governor Luis Muñoz Marín. The 5-minute shootout resulted in four Nationalists dead, Domingo Hiraldo Resto, Carlos Hiraldo Resto, Manuel Torres Medina, three of the guards of the building, among them Lorenzo Ramos, were seriously injured. On October 9,1960, La Fortaleza was designated a United States National Historic Landmark, in 1983, La Fortaleza, along with the San Juan National Historic Site, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. On May 26,2004, a man armed with a knife entered the mansions mailroom located just outside the palace gates, the 2½ hour stand-off ended after Governor Sila María Calderón entered the building and listened as the hostage-taker read a letter. In 2011, Puerto Rican author Giannina Braschi wrote the dramatic novel United States of Banana, report of 7th Session, Florence 1983. Paris, UNESCOs Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, pR-54, La Fortaleza, Calle Fortaleza, San Juan, San Juan Municipio, PR
18.
Masonry
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Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar, the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of construction are brick, building stone such as marble, granite, travertine, and limestone, cast stone, concrete block, glass block. Masonry is generally a durable form of construction. However, the used, the quality of the mortar and workmanship. A person who constructs masonry is called a mason or bricklayer, Masonry is commonly used for walls and buildings. Brick and concrete block are the most common types of masonry in use in industrialized nations, Concrete blocks, especially those with hollow cores, offer various possibilities in masonry construction. They generally provide great strength, and are best suited to structures with light transverse loading when the cores remain unfilled. Filling some or all of the cores with concrete or concrete with steel reinforcement offers much greater tensile, the use of material such as bricks and stones can increase the thermal mass of a building and can protect the building from fire. Masonry walls are resistant to projectiles, such as debris from hurricanes or tornadoes. Extreme weather, under circumstances, can cause degradation of masonry due to expansion. Masonry tends to be heavy and must be built upon a foundation, such as reinforced concrete. Other than concrete, masonry construction does not lend well to mechanization. Masonry consists of components and has a low tolerance to oscillation as compared to other materials such as reinforced concrete, plastics, wood. Masonry has high compressive strength under vertical loads but has low tensile strength unless reinforced, the tensile strength of masonry walls can be increased by thickening the wall, or by building masonry piers at intervals. Where practical, steel reinforcements such as windposts can be added, a masonry veneer wall consists of masonry units, usually clay-based bricks, installed on one or both sides of a structurally independent wall usually constructed of wood or masonry. In this context the brick masonry is primarily decorative, not structural, the brick veneer is generally connected to the structural wall by brick ties. There is typically an air gap between the veneer and the structural wall. Concrete blocks, real and cultured stones, and veneer adobe are sometimes used in a very similar veneer fashion
19.
Fortification
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Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices
20.
Wooden
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Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees, and other woody plants. It is a material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers which are strong in tension embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, in a living tree it performs a support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients between the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots, Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or wood chips or fiber. In 2005, the stock of forests worldwide was about 434 billion cubic meters. As an abundant, carbon-neutral renewable resource, woody materials have been of intense interest as a source of renewable energy, in 1991 approximately 3.5 billion cubic meters of wood were harvested. Dominant uses were for furniture and building construction, a 2011 discovery in the Canadian province of New Brunswick discovered the earliest known plants to have grown wood, approximately 395 to 400 million years ago. Wood can be dated by carbon dating and in species by dendrochronology to make inferences about when a wooden object was created. People have used wood for millennia for many purposes, primarily as a fuel or as a material for making houses, tools, weapons, furniture, packaging, artworks. Constructions using wood date back ten thousand years, buildings like the European Neolithic long house were made primarily of wood. Recent use of wood has changed by the addition of steel. The year-to-year variation in tree-ring widths and isotopic abundances gives clues to the climate at that time. This process is known as growth, it is the result of cell division in the vascular cambium, a lateral meristem. These cells then go on to form thickened secondary cell walls, composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, if the distinctiveness between seasons is annual, these growth rings are referred to as annual rings. Where there is little seasonal difference growth rings are likely to be indistinct or absent, if the bark of the tree has been removed in a particular area, the rings will likely be deformed as the plant overgrows the scar. It is usually lighter in color than that near the portion of the ring. The outer portion formed later in the season is known as the latewood or summerwood. However, there are differences, depending on the kind of wood
21.
Wrought iron
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Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content in contrast to cast iron. It is a mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions which gives it a grain resembling wood. Wrought iron is tough, malleable, ductile, corrosion-resistant and easily welded, before the development of effective methods of steelmaking and the availability of large quantities of steel, wrought iron was the most common form of malleable iron. A wrought product is one that has been worked by forging, extruding, rolling, hammering, etcetera, to change its form. Wrought iron is a worked iron product that is seldom produced today as other cheaper. Historically, a modest amount of iron was refined into steel. The demand for wrought iron reached its peak in the 1860s with the adaptation of ironclad warships, however, as properties such as brittleness of mild steel improved, it became less costly and more widely available than wrought iron, whose usage then declined. Wrought iron is no longer produced on a commercial scale, many products described as wrought iron, such as guard rails, garden furniture and gates, are actually made of mild steel. They retain that description because they are made to resemble objects which in the past were wrought by hand by a blacksmith, the word wrought is an archaic past participle of the verb to work, and so wrought iron literally means worked iron. Wrought iron is a term for the commodity, but is also used more specifically for finished iron goods. It was used in that sense in British Customs records. Cast iron, unlike wrought iron, is brittle and cannot be worked either hot or cold, Cast iron can break if struck with a hammer. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, wrought iron went by a variety of terms according to its form, origin. While the bloomery process produced wrought iron directly from ore, cast iron or pig iron were the materials used in the finery forge. Pig iron and cast iron have higher content than wrought iron. Cast and especially pig iron have excess slag which must be at least partially removed to produce quality wrought iron, at foundries it was common to blend scrap wrought iron with cast iron to improve the physical properties of castings. Fusion eventually became accepted as relatively more important than composition below a given low carbon concentration. Another difference is that steel can be hardened by heat treating, historically, wrought iron was known as commercially pure iron, however, it no longer qualifies because current standards for commercially pure iron require a carbon content of less than 0.008 wt%
22.
Balconet
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They are common in France, Portugal, Spain, and Italy. They are often referred to as Juliet balconies after the scene from Shakespeares play Romeo, a prominent example of a balconette is on the Palazzo Labia in Venice. The term has also applied to a style of brassiere featuring low-cut cups. The name balconette came from men in the balcony of a theatre looking down upon women, a balconette bra could not be seen from above
23.
Parapet
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A parapet is a barrier which is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian parapetto, the German equivalent Brustwehr has the same meaning. Parapets were originally used to defend buildings from attack, but today they are primarily used as guard rails. Parapets may be plain, embattled, perforated or panelled, which are not mutually exclusive terms, plain parapets are upward extensions of the wall, sometimes with a coping at the top and corbel below. Embattled parapets may be panelled, but are pierced, if not purely as stylistic device, perforated parapets are pierced in various designs such as circles, trefoils, or quatrefoils. Panelled parapets are ornamented by a series of panels, either oblong or square, and more or less enriched and these are common in the Decorated and Perpendicular periods. The Mosaic law prescribed parapets for newly constructed houses as a safety measure, the Mirror Wall at Sigiriya, Sri Lanka built between 477 and 495 AD is one of the few surviving protective parapet walls from antiquity. Built onto the side of Sigiriya Rock it ran for a distance of approximately 250 meters and provided protection from inclement weather. Only about one hundred meters of this exists today, but brick debris. Parapets surrounding roofs are common in London and this dates from the Building Act of 1707 which banned projecting wooden eaves in the cities of Westminster and London as a fire risk. Instead an 18-inch brick parapet was required, with the set behind. This was continued in many Georgian houses, as it gave the appearance of a roof which accorded with the desire for classical proportions. Many firewalls are required to have a parapet, a portion of the wall extending above the roof, the parapet is required to be as fire resistant as the lower wall, and extend a distance prescribed by building code. Parapets on bridges and other highway structures prevent users from falling off where there is a drop and they may also be meant to restrict views, to prevent rubbish passing below, and to act as noise barriers. Bridge parapets may be made any material, but structural steel, aluminium, timber. They may be of solid or framed construction, in European standards, parapets are defined as a sub-category of vehicle restraint systems or pedestrian restraint systems. In terms of fortification, a parapet is a wall of stone, wood or earth on the edge of a defensive wall or trench. In medieval castles, they were often crenellated, in later artillery forts, parapets tend to be higher and thicker
24.
Clock
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A clock is an instrument to measure, keep, and indicate time. The word clock is derived from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning bell, a silent instrument missing such a striking mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece. In general usage today a clock refers to any device for measuring and displaying the time, Watches and other timepieces that can be carried on ones person are often distinguished from clocks. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units, the day, the lunar month. Devices operating on several physical processes have been used over the millennia, a sundial shows the time by displaying the position of a shadow on a flat surface. There is a range of duration timers, an example being the hourglass. Water clocks, along with the sundials, are possibly the oldest time-measuring instruments, spring-driven clocks appeared during the 15th century. During the 15th and 16th centuries, clockmaking flourished, the next development in accuracy occurred after 1656 with the invention of the pendulum clock. A major stimulus to improving the accuracy and reliability of clocks was the importance of precise time-keeping for navigation, the electric clock was patented in 1840. The development of electronics in the 20th century led to clocks with no clockwork parts at all, the timekeeping element in every modern clock is a harmonic oscillator, a physical object that vibrates or oscillates at a particular frequency. This object can be a pendulum, a fork, a quartz crystal. Analog clocks usually indicate time using angles, Digital clocks display a numeric representation of time. Two numeric display formats are used on digital clocks, 24-hour notation. Most digital clocks use electronic mechanisms and LCD, LED, or VFD displays, for convenience, distance, telephony or blindness, auditory clocks present the time as sounds. There are also clocks for the blind that have displays that can be read by using the sense of touch, some of these are similar to normal analog displays, but are constructed so the hands can be felt without damaging them. The evolution of the technology of clocks continues today, the study of timekeeping is known as horology. The apparent position of the Sun in the sky moves over the course of a day, shadows cast by stationary objects move correspondingly, so their positions can be used to indicate the time of day. A sundial shows the time by displaying the position of a shadow on a flat surface, sundials can be horizontal, vertical, or in other orientations
25.
Pilaster
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The pilaster is an architectural element in classical architecture used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the wall surface, usually treated as though it were a column, with a capital at the top, plinth at the bottom. In contrast to a pilaster, a column or buttress can support the structure of a wall. It may be defined as a column which has lost its three-dimensional. A pilaster appears with a capital and entablature, also in low-relief or flattened against the wall and these vertical elements can also be used to support a recessed archivolt around a doorway. The pilaster can be replaced by ornamental brackets supporting the entablature or a balcony over a doorway, when a pilaster appears at the corner intersection of two walls it is known as a canton. As with a column, a pilaster can have a plain or fluted surface to its profile, during the Renaissance and Baroque architects used a range of pilaster forms. In the giant order pilasters appear as tall, linking floors in a single unit
26.
Entablature
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An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave, the frieze. The Greek and Roman temples are believed to be based on wooden structures, the structure of the entablature varies with the three classical orders, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. In each, the proportions of the subdivisions are defined by the proportions of the column in the order, in Roman and Renaissance interpretations, it is usually approximately a quarter of the height of the column. Variants of entablature that do not fit these models are derived from them. Pure classical Doric entablature is simple, the architrave, the lowest band, is split, from bottom to top, into the guttae, the regulae, and the taenia. The frieze is dominated by the triglyphs, vertically channelled tablets, separated by metopes, which may or may not be decorated. The triglyphs sit on top of the taenia, a flat, thin, horizontal protrusion, and are finished at the bottom by decoration of drops, called guttae, the top of the triglyphs meet the protrusion of the cornice from the entablature. The underside of this protrusion is decorated with mutules, tablets that are finished with guttae. The cornice is split into the soffit, the corona, the soffit is simply the exposed underside. The corona and the cymatium are the parts of the cornice. The Ionic order of entablature adds the fascia in the architrave, which are flat horizontal protrusions, and the dentils under the cornice, which are tooth-like rectangular block moldings. The Corinthian order adds a far more ornate cornice, divided, from bottom to top, into the cyma reversa, the dentils, the ovulo, the modillions, the fascia, and the cyma recta. The modillions are ornate brackets, similar in use to dentils, the frieze is sometimes omitted—for example, on the portico of the caryatides of the Erechtheum—and probably did not exist as a structure in the temple of Diana at Ephesus. Neither is it found in the Lycian tombs, which are reproductions in the rock of timber based on early lonian work. The entablature is essentially an evolution of the lintel, which spans two posts, supporting the ends of the roof rafters. The entablature together with the system of columns is rarely found outside of classical architecture. It is often used to complete the upper portion of a wall where columns are not present, the use of the entablature, irrespective of columns, appeared after the Renaissance
27.
Weather vane
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A weather vane, wind vane, or weathercock is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an ornament to the highest point of a building. Although partly functional, weather vanes are generally decorative, often featuring the traditional design with letters indicating the points of the compass. Other common motifs include ships, arrows and horses, not all weather vanes have pointers. The word vane comes from the Old English word fana meaning flag, below this was a frieze adorned with the eight Greek wind deities. The eight-metre-high structure also featured sundials, and a clock inside. It dates from around 50 BCE, the oldest existing weather vane with the shape of a rooster is the Gallo di Ramperto, made in 820 CE and now preserved in the Museo di Santa Giulia in Brescia, Lombardy. Pope Leo IV had a cock placed on the Old St. Peters Basilica or old Constantinian basilica. As a result of this, the cock gradually began to be used as a weather vane on church steeples, the Bayeux Tapestry of the 1070s depicts a man installing a cock on Westminster Abbey. One alternative theory about the origin of weathercocks on church steeples is that it was an emblem of the vigilance of the calling the people to prayer. Another theory says that the cock was not a Christian symbol, a few churches used weather vanes in the shape of the emblems of their patron saints. The City of London has two surviving examples, the weather vane of St Peter upon Cornhill is not in the shape of a rooster, but a key, while St Lawrence Jewrys weather vane is in the form of a gridiron. Early weather vanes had very ornamental pointers, but modern wind vanes are usually simple arrows that dispense with the directionals because the instrument is connected to a remote reading station, modern aerovanes combine the directional vane with an anemometer. Co-locating both instruments allows them to use the same axis and provides a coordinated readout, according to the Guinness World Records, the worlds largest weather vane is a Tío Pepe sherry advertisement located in Jerez, Spain. The city of Montague, Michigan also claims to have the largest standard-design weather vane, being a ship and arrow which measures 48 feet tall, a challenger for the title of worlds largest weather vane is located in Whitehorse, Yukon. The weather vane is a retired Douglas DC-3 CF-CPY atop a swiveling support, the weather vane only requires a 5 knot wind to rotate. The term weathervane is also a word for a politician who has frequent changes of opinion. The National Assembly of Quebec has banned use of this term as a slur after its use by members of the legislature
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Carnaval de Ponce
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The Carnaval de Ponce, officially Carnaval Ponceño, is an annual celebration held in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The celebration lasts one week and it ends on the day before Ash Wednesday, thus, it is generally held in February and sometimes in March. It is one of the oldest carnivals of the Western Hemisphere, some authorities, such as the Smithsonian Institution, believe the Ponce Carnaval can be traced to as far back as 250 years ago. The Carnaval coincides with the Mardi Gras of New Orleans, the Carnival of Venice, scenes of the 2011 Carnaval Ponceño were featured in the Travel Channel on 7 August 2011. There are no documents stating the official origin of the Carnaval, the Carnaval de Ponce thus began in 1858 and was started as a mask dance by a Spaniard by the name of José de la Guardia. The mascarade dance continued as a tradition through the years, in 1937, the Carnaval was officially adopted by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. In 2012, a news weekly called Carnaval de Ponce Puerto Ricos National Carnival. One of the traditions of the Carnaval is the appearance of the vejigantes, vejigantes carry blown cow bladders with which they make sounds and hit people throughout the processions. The vejigante masks are made of paper mache and usually have many horns, the Carnaval starts on the Wednesday before Ash Wednesday, and the events are as follows
29.
Parque de Bombas
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The Parque de Bombas is a historic firehouse building in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is one of Puerto Ricos most notable buildings, with some considering it by far the most easily recognized landmark in the Island and it is located at the Plaza Las Delicias town square, directly behind the Ponce Cathedral. The building housed the main fire station for many years. Its name comes from the mobile hand-pumped fire fighting units the building once housed and it has been heralded both for its historical and architectural roles in Puerto Rican society. It was Puerto Ricos first ever fire station and it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 12,1984. The structure was built as the main exhibit pavilion for the 1882 Exhibition Trade Fair, a Spanish Army soldier, Lt. Colonel Maximo de Meana y Guridi who happened to be a professional architect, was commissioned in Puerto Rico at the time. The Madrid-based central government assigned Meana the task of designing and constructing the building, the building was unveiled during the 1882 Ponce World Fair. The festivals participants used the building as its main pavilion, the first brigade of firemen to work in the building were stationed on 2 February 1883. Major fires took place in the city on February 27,1820, Meana became mayor of Ponce in 1882, and in 1885, the station went on to become Ponces official fire station. Thus every firefighting operation in Ponce and adjacent towns was dispatched from the Parque de Bombas. On January 25,1899, a fire threatened the lives of Ponceños, as well as the economy of Puerto Rico as a whole, given Ponces de facto role as Puerto Ricos banking. A painting inside Parque de Bombas commemorates the heroic acts of seven valiant bomberos, disobeying orders from the American troops that had recently taken control of Puerto Rico, the group was able to appease flames that had started inside the U. S. Army’s gunpowder reserves. Due to their courageous efforts, disaster was narrowly averted, for their success, the group was honored many times both in Ponce and the rest of Puerto Rico. Later on, the Parque de Bombas building was painted in Ponces traditional city colors, red, a series of homes built a few years later for the firefighters and their families on 25 de Enero Street were also painted in these colors also. The station continued to serve the city of Ponce until 1990, on that year, the stations fire-fighting duties were fully transferred to another nearby station, and the building was officially converted into a fire-fighting museum. The architect in charge of its restoration was Pablo Ojeda ONeill, nowadays, a photo of the 1883 firefighters hangs on the walls of the Parque de Bombas building. In 1983, the 100th anniversary of the victory over the infamous fire was commemorated at the station. Various artifacts used by the 1882 fire brigade are on display at the current museum, among these are some artifacts used to combat the 1883 fire
30.
General store
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A general store is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space. The store carries routine stock and obtains special orders from warehouses and it differs from a convenience store or corner shop in that it will be the main shop for the community rather than a convenient supplement. General stores often sell staple food items such as milk and bread, the term general merchandise store is also used to describe a hybrid of a department store, with a wide selection of goods, and a discount store, with low prices. Examples include J. C. Penney and Sears, General dealers were established in the 18th and 19th century in many remote populated places where mobility was limited and a single shop was sufficient to service the entire community. Due to its connection and confinement to its customers, general dealers often adjusted their sales offerings to the specific preferences of their community. General dealers existed—apart from mainland England and North America—in all colonies, in the colonies trade in local produce had existed long before official shops were opened. While a large number of stores still exist in Australia. The oldest continually run general store in Canada is Trousdales, located in Sydenham, Ontario, socialbility has always been a feature, as locals come to chat as well as buy. In the Dominican Republic, a colmado is the equivalent to a general store. Colmado literal translation is full to the brim implying its great density of goods in a small space, the colmado is much more than just a general store, for it offers a social gathering point for the residents of the town or neighborhood. The colmado is an important institution in the Dominican Republic serving as an economic and it is common for colmados to have loud Dominican music such as merengue, bachata, or salsa playing. A common pastime for Dominican men is to play dominoes and drink a beer at their local colmado on Sundays, another particularity of the colmado is that they provide delivery services of their products straight to your house door. Products go from beers, snacks, toilet paper to a light or canned food. The Greek merchants in Egypt were called bakal, in India, a tapri is a regional version of a general store. It stores all home, personal, medical, and hygienic daily used products, many Kirana shops sell products other from food, such as clothing or household items, stationery, toys, tools, and medicines. Small Kirna stores, which are located on the corner of streets and generally known as katta or tapri, sell cigarettes, tobacco. In Puerto Rico, a U. S. territory, several stores have proliferated since the 1970s
31.
Plaza Degetau
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Plaza Degetau, formally Plaza Federico Degetau, is the larger of two plazas at Plaza Las Delicias, the main city square in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The other plaza is named Plaza Muñoz Rivera and is located north of Plaza Degetau, the square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located bordering the side of this plaza. The square dates back to the early Spanish settlement in Ponce of 1670 and it is the main tourist attraction of the city, receiving about a quarter of a million visitors per year. According to the traditional Spanish colonial custom, a main square. In the case of Ponce, a Catholic church was built on the center of the plaza, Plaza Degetau is the southern of the two sections, with the other plaza, Plaza Muñoz Rivera, located to the north of Plaza Federico Degetau. Plaza Degetau measures a little over half of 8,800 square meters, the history of Plaza Degetau dates back to as far as the creation of the first Catholic chapel in Ponce in 1670. It is also known that around 1840 Mayor Salvador de Vives planted trees as a project for plaza. It was first lit in 1864, the Plaza, as it stands today, was designed by architect Francisco Porrata-Doria in 1914. In addition to the Cathedral and the firehouse, Plaza Degetau at one point also contained an open dining Moorish-style Arab kiosk that had part of the 1882 Fair Exposition. The kiosk was still present at the time of the American invasion of the island in 1898 as reported by American photo-journalist William Dinwiddie, Plaza Degetau was originally called Antigua Plaza Real, and later, Plaza Mayor. Plaza Degetau is perhaps the best known of the two plazas and the one most often seen in pictures, in the center of this plaza lies the famous Fuente de los Leones. The large, round-shaped fountain is bounded by a low, marble, the fountains wall boundary is shaped in the form of a regular octagon and built so that one of the vertices of the octagon points towards the historic Ponce City Hall. The fountain also features four statues and water that flows under colored lighting effects. The four lion statues are located one statue on each alternating vertex of the fountains octagonal boundary wall, the fountain was purchased in 1939 at the New York Worlds Fair. The fountain, including a basement, was remodeled and restored in 1993. Its base was enlarged and a lighting system was installed. This plaza also features a statue of native composer Juan Morel Campos and this statue was also produced at the workshop of Italian sculptor Luiggi Tomassi
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Ponce Plaza Hotel & Casino
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The Ponce Plaza Hotel & Casino, formerly Ponce Ramada Hotel and Ponce Plaza Ramada Hotel, is a hotel in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The hotel opened in the summer of 2009 and is known for the value of its structure. In February 2013, the hotel expanded its facilities to include a casino, a lounge. On 1 July 2014, the left the Ramada namesake franchise. The hotel is located in the Ponce Historic Zone, the first building facing Plaza Munoz Rivera is the historic Casa Saurí structure and it houses six colonial-style rooms plus the hotels Lola Eclectic Cuisine restaurant. The hotel was designed in 2006-2009 by architects Fernando Bonnín and Javier Bonnín of Ponce, the historic 1882 Casa Saurí-Rubert was meticulously rebuilt to accommodate the hotel. On the first floor of this Casa Saurí building the now houses its front desk, lobby, conference room/breakfast room. The second floor accommodates six colonial-style guest rooms and these six rooms are all designed to follow 19th century historic themes. The hotel was built with incentives under Law 212 of the Commonwealth, félix Sauri y Vivas was a Ponce businessman and hacienda holder and mayor of Ponce in 1895. Casa Sauri is said to be the third oldest residence standing in Ponce. Munoz Holdings invested $15 million in the restoration and development of the original Casa Sauri property, in August 2011, hotel owners announced plans to enlarge the hotel with the addition of a casino, a large conference room, a second restaurant, and 150 additional parking spaces. The plans call for the development of the property immediately to the south of the current historic Casa Saurí, a property which also faces Plaza Muñoz Rivera. The new casino would boast 9,500 square feet of space, history of the Autonomous City of Ponce List of hotels in Puerto Rico
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Los Chinos de Ponce
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Critics have called the store a Puerto Rican institution and its ice cream the Caribbeans best. It has also been called Puerto Ricos most famous ice cream stand, another critic called it for which Ill always remember Ponce. Their owners/founders were Alfredo Louk, originally from Canton, China, and his wife Violeta Chang de Louk, the couple had fled the Fidel Castro government and established themselves in Ponce in 1963. They opened the first Kings Cream store in 1964 and it was located at 61 Calle Vives, between Calle Union and Calle Atocha. A second outlet of the company opened three blocks away across Plaza Las Delicias on Calle Marina a few years later. The store has an array of local flavors, including pineapple, parcha, coconut, guanabana, tamarind, acerola, peanut, maize, list of Puerto Rico Landmarks Chinese immigration to Puerto Rico Piragua Lee-Borges, José. Photo of Kings Ice Cream at Calle Marina 9322 Photo of Kings Ice Cream outlet at 61 Vives Street Kings Cream official menu list
34.
Ponce Servicios
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Ponce Servicos is a municipal building located Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is the largest building in the municipality in terms of footprint area, the structure was built in 1981 as a way to provide a modern, air-conditioned, structure to the merchants and shoppers of the historic but aging Plaza de Mercado Isabel II building. On its opening day the building was named the Juan Bigas Plaza del Mercado building, in honor of Juan Bigas Moulins and that year, the Ponce municipal government started plans to recondition the Juan Bigas building. The Ponce Municipal Government reopened the building in October 2013 as a municipal building offering a mix of municipal services, the structure is located at the grid formed by the Guadalupe, Salud, Estrella and Mayor streets. Its coordinates are N18.01582 W66.61212, from 1863 to 1981, the Ponce market operated at the Isabel II Plaza de Mercado building. Due to deterioration of that 1863 structure, a new structure was built to house the farmers market merchants. The new building, at the time simply as Plaza del Mercado de Ponce, was inaugurated in 1981 to replace the aging. Meanwhile, the Plaza del Mercado Isabel II was restored starting in 1980 -including the addition of air conditioning for the first time- and opened, again, in 1989. While the Juan Bigas building continued to host fruits-and-vegetables tenants, the Isabel II structure came to host the Pitusa department store plus various handcrafts shops. The remodeling of the old Juan Bigas building to be used for government services was to occur at a cost of $6.828 million. A27 July 2011 news report stated work on the Juan Bigas building would commence in October 2011 at an expected cost of $15 million. A26 June 2013 news report indicated that renovations had been completed, the facility was to be named Ponce Servicios. The building reopened in August 2013 as Ponce Servicios, hosting various municipal dependencies, the building cost $10 million to build in 1981. It is the building with the largest footprint in Ponce, la Gran Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico, Vol XIX, Arquitectura y Leyes, Editorial Rumbo, Madrid. Conservacion, Area de la Plaza del Mercado de Ponce
35.
Ponce Municipal Library
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The Ponce Municipal Library, formally, Biblioteca Municipal Mariana Suárez de Longo, and also known as Biblioteca Publica de Ponce, is the library system of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Founded in 1870, it is the oldest public library in Puerto Rico, in August 2007, a new facility, designed specifically as a library, was inaugurated on Bulevar Miguel Pou. Unusual for public libraries, it not have any type of book loan service available to the public. The origins of the Ponce Municipal Library date to the establishment in Ponce of the Gabinete de Lectura in 1869-1870, the Gabinete de Lectura was the first educational, cultural, and scientific center in Ponce. The central government in San Juan closed it down in 1874 out of fear that the people would become educated. However, it was reopened in 1876 by a group of people that some of its original founders plus Dr. The Ponce Municipal Library was formally founded in 1890 and re-organized in 1894 and this first library was located on the first floor of Casa Alcaldia building, on what is now Calle Plaza Degetau, but at the time was considered part of Calle Villa. It contained 1,500 volumes that came from the Gabinete de Lectura, the collection of Manuel Rosich, a prominent local educator. The first librarian was Joaquin Figueroa, the library started with 809 books and 669 pamphlets. By 1913, the number of volumes was over 4,754. In 1937, the library was restarted under the leadership of Luis A. Ferre, the library later relocated to Isabel street in what is now the Ponce Historic Zone. In 1940, mayor Jose Tormos Diego reconditioned the northern annex of Teatro La Perla to be used as the headquarters of the Ponce municipal library, originally a non-circulating library, in 1945 the Ponce Public Library instituted a home loan system guaranteed by deposits. The majority of its readers were school children, by 1946 the Ponce Public Library collection had increased to 9,648 volumes, mostly of general character, but completely catalogued according to the Dewey system. In 1946 the library was supported by the Ponce Lions Club and the Asociacion Bibliotecaria de Puerto Rico. During the administration of mayor Juan H. Cintron, the moved to new facilities next to Teatro La Perla. The city moved its library to a new facility in August 2007. The modern facility opened over three years after the death of its proud mastermind and instigator, the beloved Ponce Mayor Rafael Churumba Cordero. The main library is located in a new building on Miguel Pou Boulevard, barrio San Anton, Ponce, at 18°044 N, the new structure opened in August 2007 under the administration of Mayor Francisco Zayas Seijo and cost $14 million to build
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Ponce High School
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The Ponce High School is public educational institution in Ponce, Puerto Rico, offering grades ten through twelve. The schools main building is a structure located on Cristina Street. From its beginning the school has secured a place in Puerto Ricos educational history. The cost of the building in 1915 dollars was $150,000 USD, the building was listed on the U. S. National Register of Historic Places on August 4,1987. The school has the only diamond-level DECA chapter in Puerto Rico, the history of the institution dates back to January 1899. On 25 January 1899 a historic fire took place on the lot occupied by the High School. The fire is known as the Fuego del Polvorín, at that time the lot was used as a U. S. Army ammunitions depot. Today a register marks the location of the fire, in November 1899, the new American government authorized the establishment of a public secondary school in Ponce modeled after the American school system. In 1903 the Roosevelt Industrial School was built on land where the US military had its munitions depot that caused the fire. Five years after El Polvorin, in the 1904-1905 timeframe, a building with 12 classrooms was built to accommodate the Ruiz Gandia Grammar School in the same spacious El Polvorin lot. The first class of Ponce High School students formed in 1902, as new facilities were completed, the students were moved to them. For the 1907-1908 school year another building was called the McKinley building. Construction of the now-historic Ponce High School building on Cristina Street started in 1915, the school is located in barrio Tercero. It faces Cristina street to the north and is bounded on the south by Comercio street, on the west by Salud street and its location is only two blocks from Plaza Las Delicias. It is also diagonally across from the Ponce Free School of Music, the old location of Liceo de Ponce and it is also one block from Teatro La Perla. The main and most historical of the buildings faces north, in the back of this building is a large yard paved with concrete. This backyard contains several other school buildings. The main building follows the architectural style
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Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Ponce
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The Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Ponce was the first structure erected in Puerto Rico by the celebrated architect Antonin Nechodoma. Constructed in 1907, the houses a Methodist congregation and is located on Villa street in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The structure was listed on the U. S. National Register of Historic Places on October 29,1987, the First United Methodist Church of Ponce is a magnificent example of early 20th-century eclecticism, integrating Neo-Gothic, Spanish Revival, Spanish Baroque, and byzantine elements. It is constructed entirely of rusticated, reinforced-concrete with gabled wood, in volume, the church consists of a gabled single-nave, parallel to the street and subdivided into three sections. A large, central cross-gable creates the main facade at Calle Villa, on Calle Villa, the cross-gable is articulated by a Spanish-baroque style rope pediment. Above the central bay, a stained glass Spanish-renaissance oculus occupies the area within the pediment, the east bell-tower consists of a two-storey rusticated base and step-backs to an onion-shaped cupola above the belfry. At the ground level, a vestibule is created by an open. At the second story, still within the towers rusticated base-section, the smaller, west tower is completely rusticated and terminates in a rope pediment, at a level slightly lower than the base of the opposite tower. At the ground there is a vestibule similar to that of the other tower and above. The main nave extends only one bay beyond the towers and these bays are identical to the smaller stained-glass bays of the main gable. A series of low buttresses supports all major walls, one at each extreme of, the side gables of the main nave repeat, exactly, the articulation of the facade of the main cross-gable. The Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Ponce is a good example of Antonin Nechodomas religious architecture. This Czech architect was one of the first non-Hispanic designers to work in Puerto Rico, Nechodoma was the architect of at least three Protestant churches and many magnificent prairie-style upper-class residences. Most of Nechodomas buildings have been demolished because of later developments, most of his surviving structures are now considered landmarks. Nechodoma designed his projects between 1907 and 1928, as the original plans of the church are dated 1907, historians believe that the Methodist Episcopal Church of Ponce was the first structure erected in Puerto Rico by the celebrated architect. The materials used to construct the church are of importance in the history of construction in Puerto Rico, reinforced concrete, the principal material, was seldom, if at all, used at this early date in Puerto Rico. Contemporary concrete buildings exhibited a lack of understanding of the material, evidenced by extremely thick walls. These characteristics are not found in the construction of this building, Nechodoma used the concrete in an elegant and even decorative fashion, demonstrating his knowledge of North-American construction techniques and his distance from the local building customs
